Mapping of the determinants of satisfaction with life of portuguese seniors: proposal for preventive intervention at an organizational level

This study focuses on the impact of demographic, socioeconomic, geographic and health determinants on Portuguese seniors’ life satisfaction. The aim of this research is, therefore, to map the determinants of satisfaction with the life of the Portuguese seniors at a national and regional level. This knowledge brings insights to improve quality of life, starting with prevention in their active life (organizational level). We used data collected by the National Health Survey of 2014 and estimated a linear OLS regression both for Portugal and its regions. The main results show that determinants that contribute positively to the level of satisfaction with life are: marital status of being “married”; higher levels of education; higher levels of income; being men and people living in rural areas. The determinant that contributed negatively to the level of satisfaction with life is the existence of chronic diseases.The results at the regional level maintain the trends observed at the country level, showing income and chronic diseases as determinants that have an impact on life satisfaction in all regions. A general profile of the Portuguese seniors is provided for the country and by region, as well as proposals, generic and transversal, at the organizational level are outlined.

Is It the Surgeon, the Patient, or the Device? A Comprehensive Clinical and Radiological Evaluation of Factors Influencing Patient Satisfaction in 648 Total Knee Arthroplasties

Total knee arthroplasty (TKA) is a successful and safe surgical procedure for treating osteoarthritic knees, but despite the overall good results, some patients remain dissatisfied. The aim of this study is to evaluate the influence of patient-related and surgery-related variables in a consecutive group of patients that underwent TKA. Individuals (n = 648) who had TKA performed between 01 January 2013 and 31 December 2017 were enrolled in the study. Postoperative Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC) score, Knee Injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (KOOS) and Forgotten Joint score (FJS-12) were collected at a mean follow-up of 4.79 years. Patient satisfaction was assessed with a questionnaire. Determinants of satisfaction (age, sex, smoking, presence of diabetes or cardiovascular disease, pain in other joints, preoperative arthritic stage) and components of satisfaction (slope variation, mechanical axis variation, outlier final alignment, surgeon experience) were examined to identify which variables correlated with positive outcome. Correlations with septic and mechanicals failures were also evaluated. Thirteen percent of patients were unsatisfied, despite good results in KOOS, WOMAC and FJS-12 tests. Female gender, low Kellgren–Lawrence grade and the presence of back pain and pain in other joints were factors associated with poor clinical results. Poorer clinical results were also reported in younger patients. Infection rate was correlated with active smoking and mechanical failure with an outlier final alignment. Comorbidities, smoking habits and high expectations have a big influence on TKA results and on final satisfaction after surgery.

Deployment of Point of Sales and Customer Satisfaction in the Banking Sectorin Ekiti State, Nigeria

The use of point of sale (POS) in providing banking services has become rampant in Nigerian banking sector especially in Ekiti State. This study therefore determined effects of cash withdrawal, money transfer and payment for utilities using POS terminals on customer satisfaction in the Nigerian banking sector. 320 regular customers of POS operators used for the study were selected through systematic and purposive sampling techniques. Primary data collected were analysed with the aid of Logit model. Findings from the study revealed that confidentiality, speed of transaction, friendliness of POS operator, competitive charges and convenient location were the major determinants of satisfaction when customers accessed POS to make withdrawal, money transfer and payment for utilities. The study concluded that deployment of POS significantly and positively influenced customer satisfaction in the banking sector in Nigeria and recommended more deployment of POS by banks with a view to decongesting banking halls and reduce queues at ATM terminals.

Determinants of Satisfaction with Services, and Trust in the Information Received in Community Pharmacies: A Comparative Analysis to Foster Pharmaceutical Care Adoption

Patient’s satisfaction with community pharmacy services, and patients’ trust in the information received in community pharmacies are important drivers of pharmaceutical care adoption. An online questionnaire assessing patient satisfaction with the services received in pharmacies and trust in the pharmacist’s advice, along with their determinants, was administered to 343 Romanian chronic and non-chronic patients. Using various statistical tests, exploratory factor analysis, and robust regression we explored determinants of satisfaction and trust. We found that satisfaction with services is predicted by pharmacists’ attitude (β = 631, p < 0.001), low waiting time (β = 0.180, p < 0.001), affordable cost of the drugs (β = 0.09, p = 0.009), and drug availability (β = 0.157, p < 0.001). At the same time, trust in the information received is driven by pharmacists’ attention (β = 0.610, p < 0.001), whether the patient received precautionary information (β = 0.425, p < 0.001), low waiting time (β = 0.287, p < 0.001), and whether the respondent is a chronic patient or not (non-chronic patients express more trust, β = 0.328, p = 0.04). Our study expands the existing paradigm that sees trust as a simple predictor of satisfaction by showing that trust and satisfaction are predicted by different variables, and thus they should be addressed using different strategies. In fact, we found that they share only one predictor—waiting time, highly significant in both cases. Our findings show that, without prioritizing trust in the information received in community pharmacies to reduce information asymmetry between patient and pharmacist, the focus only on patient satisfaction may lead to a scenario in which community pharmacies will end up to be better integrated in the business sector and not in the public health system.

A COMPARATIVE STUDY ON STUDENTS’ LEVEL OF ACCEPTANCE AND PREFERENCE OF CONVENTIONAL AND VIRTUAL MODE AT “GAUSUL AZAM MAIZBHANDERI MEDHA-BRITTHI (SCHOLARSHIP EXAM) PROGRAM IN FATIKCHARI, BANGLADESH

The students associated with the educational sector are facing a restructuring educational system for being pushed out of school by the elongated countrywide new-normal situation during COVID-19. In this pandemic situation, the virtual mode is welcome in the absence of a face-to-face conventional mode of examination. So, participants' satisfaction, acceptance, and preference of exam mode need to be focused on. This paper addresses the determinants of satisfaction, acceptance, and preference among the students of the Medha-Britthi examination. Data has been collected through a Telephone questionnaire survey from the participants of the school level of Bangladesh at the Maizbhanderi Medha-Britthi (scholarship) examination. The data has been analyzed using SPSS according to their responses on their satisfaction, acceptance & preference of examination mode for the future. The result shows that according to their level of satisfaction, examinee communication, time & cost-effectiveness, and ICT effectiveness, most of the students have preferred the online examination mode for the future. Few students have preferred conventional methods for a lack of digital devices, ICT efficacy, or lack of interest. This study also will take appropriate measures to overcome the barriers faced by the participants so that the preferable mode can be continued in the future.

Heritage hotels and customer experience: a text mining analysis of online reviews

Purpose In business, online reviews have an economic impact on firm performance. Customers’ data in the form of online reviews was used to understand the appreciation and service complaints written by previous customers. The study is an analysis of the online reviews written by the customers about Indian heritage hotels. This study aims to understand the dimensions of service appreciation and service complaints by comparing positive- and negative-rated reviews and find the patterns in the determinants of the satisfaction and dissatisfaction of the customers. Design/methodology/approach A total of 23,643 online reviews about heritage hotels were collected from the TripAdvisor website by using a Web crawler developed in Python. A total of 1000 reviews were randomly selected for further analysis to eliminate the bandwagon effect. Unsupervised text mining techniques were used to analyze reviews and find out the interesting patterns in text data. Findings Based on Herzberg two-factor theory, this study found satisfied and dissatisfied determinants separately. The study revealed some common categories discussed by satisfied and dissatisfied customers. The factors which satisfy the customers may also dissatisfy the customers if not delivered properly. Satisfied customers mentioned about tangible features of the hotel stay, which includes physical signifiers, traditional services, staff behavior and professionalism and core products (rooms, food). However, most of the customers complained about intangible service problems, such as staff attitude, services failure, issues with reservation and food, value for money and room condition. The results are contradicting with commercial hotels-based studies owing to the unique services provided by heritage hotels. Practical implications The dimensions for satisfaction and dissatisfaction among customer of heritage hotels provide marketers to understand the real emotion and perception of the customers. As these dimensions were extracted through text mining of the reviews written by the customer of heritage hotels, the results would certainly give better insights to the hotel marketers. Originality/value The study is a rare attempt to study online reviews of customers on heritage hotels through a text mining approach and find the patterns in the behavior and the determinants of satisfaction and dissatisfaction of customers.